


Mishaps in Raising a Baby

by Lopithecus



Series: Sparks [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Because Bruce swears a lot, M/M, rating for swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-13 16:56:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10517943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lopithecus/pseuds/Lopithecus
Summary: Clark is gone on a business trip for four days which leaves Bruce alone to raise their son. Except it's not as easy to raise a baby with super powers as one might think.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place right after Clark left for a business trip. You must read [_Bye-Bye_](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10325450) first. This will be four chapters long with one chapter each day. Enjoy!

**Chapter One:**

**Ko’s age: 1 year**

Ten minutes after Clark has left for work, Bruce carries Ko into his office to allow him to play while he gets some work done. He sets the baby down amongst his toys and then heads to his desk, grabbing the files he needs to look over. He does this for about an hour without any trouble until Ko begins to make a small sobbing noise. Bruce looks up and sees Ko sitting there with some blocks stacked and tears dripping down his face. Bruce gets up immediately and goes to him, picking him up and cradling him to his chest.

“Hey, what’s wrong Ko?” Bruce asks, kissing the top of his baby’s head.

“Bye-bye,” Ko says in answer.

Bruce frowns. If only Ko knew more words than that. “Don’t worry, Ko, Papa will be home soon, okay?”

“Bye-bye.” Bruce sighs and holds the crying baby close. Clark has never been gone for days on end and so Ko doesn’t know how to cope. Though, if Bruce thinks about it, Ko shouldn’t even know Clark is going to be gone that long yet. But Ko has always been a smart baby, smarter than most at least.

Bruce sits down on the floor, setting Ko down as well. The baby sniffles, tears still rolling down his red, puffy cheeks. “Do you want Sophie the Giraffe?” Bruce reaches over and picks up the rubber giraffe, handing it to Ko. Ko takes it and begins gnawing on the leg immediately while simultaneously making small whimpering sounds. “Do you want to play with the farm animals? Daddy could use a break from work.” He grabs the farm set (something Clark said Ko _had_ to have since Clark himself grew up on a farm) and opens the toy barn to reveal all the farm animals. He takes the cow and hands it to Ko who grabs it. He then takes the sheep for himself. “Do you know what sounds sheep make?” He waits for a few seconds, knowing Ko won’t answer. “Bah bah, goes the sheep.” Bruce walks the sheep over to the cow. “Well hello, Mister Cow, how are you today?” Ko swings the cow up and down, still making small noises with a giraffe hoof in his mouth. “And the cow goes, moo. It sure looks like Mister Cow is having a bad day today.” Bruce reaches up and wipes some of the tears away on Ko’s cheeks. “What’s wrong Mister Cow?”

Suddenly, Ko throws the Cow at the barn, knocking the thing over and causing the other animals to spill out. “Mye-mye,” Ko says around the toy in his mouth. “Mye-mye.” The crying coming from him intensifies until Ko drops the toy and wails.

Eyes wide, Bruce stands up and picks Ko up. “Okay, I think someone might need a nap.” He looks at the time. It’s still two hours before Ko’s usual nap time but maybe he didn’t get that much sleep last night. He begins carrying Ko to the nursery. “Are you tired?” he asks Ko, who has added squirming to his crying. When Bruce enters the nursery, and is just about to place him in the crib, Ko’s hand comes at his face angrily and smacks him in the nose. Bruce drops the baby out of shock and backs up a few paces, hands flying to his nose. Searing pain shoots through his face and his hands touch a wetness there. When he looks at them, they are red with blood.

His eyes snap to Ko who is floating in the air, crying his little heart out. Bruce watches the baby, face completely red and puffy cheeks soaking wet with tears. “Ko?” Bruce brings his hand up to his nose again, the pain throbbing. Ko pays him no attention. “Ko, get in your crib.” Still the baby ignores him. “Ko, it’s time for a nap.” He takes a step towards the baby hesitantly. “Sleepy time.” He reaches for Ko who then goes to slap him again, not wanting to be picked up. Bruce backs up once more hastily. “Ko, it’s not okay to hit,” Bruce says firmly. “Hitting hurts.” By now Bruce’s hand is soaked with blood and there’s some drops that have fallen to the floor. The carpet will be stained now but Bruce doesn’t want to leave Ko alone to take care of it. He’s been hit in the face and given a bloody nose plenty of times in his life and so he is perfectly capable of dealing with Ko first.

Ko finally looks at him and Bruce’s scolding. He gently lowers himself into the crib, lying down yet still crying. “Bye-bye,” Ko cries, sticking a hand in his mouth.

Bruce approaches the crib apprehensively. “Papa will be home in a few days, Ko, I promise. I know you miss him but you _don’t_ hit. Hitting is bad and hurts.”

Ko sucks on his hand as his crying finally slows, hiccups coming out every few seconds. He reaches up to Bruce, most likely wanting to hug him, but all Bruce can do is reach down with the hand not pressed to his nose and rub some of the tears away on Ko’s cheeks. “Nappy time.” Ko blinks at him a few times before his eyes slowly close. Bruce stays there until Ko falls asleep.

He immediately goes to his room and to his bathroom, taking a wad of tissues with him. Bruce presses the tissues to his nose and pulls out his cellphone. It rings three times before the call is answered. “Bruce? Is everything okay?”

“Ko hit me.”

“Again? Isn’t this the third time in two months?” Clark pauses. “Why do you sound so weird?”

“Because Clark, this time he decided to hit me with super strength. I’m pretty sure he broke my fucking nose.”

Bruce hears some shuffling and Clark telling Lois that he’ll be right back. “Where is he now?”

“Fuck, hang on. I’m bleeding all over the damn place.” Bruce sets his cellphone down and gets some more tissues, flushing the soiled ones down the toilet. He picks the cellphone up again. “He’s in his crib. I put him down for a nap.”

“Okay, I’m going to come home.”

“How? You going tell Lois that you need to go home because your baby just broke Daddy’s nose?” He sighs. “Look, Clark it’s fine. You just stay there. I can handle it here but I just wanted you to know what happened so when you come home and I’m sporting a black and blue, you aren’t concerned.”

“Not concerned? Bruce, our son just broke your nose.”

“Jason’s done that too.”

“It’s not the same and you know it. Bruce, this is really concerning.”

Bruce sighs again, taking the tissue away from his nose to inspect it. The bleeding has finally slowed down but his nose is swollen to three times its regular size and is already starting to turn purple. “I know, trust me, I know. I suppose I should count myself lucky that I’ve had my nose broken many times before though. I’m used to how much it hurts and what to do about it. I still need to get Alfred to set it.”

“You should probably do that soon and put some ice on it.”

“I will. Clark, I’m being serious about you not coming home.” He hears Clark sigh in annoyance. “You said it yourself, Perry wouldn’t let you off of this article. It must be important then.”

“But Lois can handle it herself,” Clark says.

“I know but it’s your job too and you love your job. We’ll deal with this when you get home in three days. Look, if anything else happens, I’ll call you. Promise.”

Clark hesitates before saying, “Okay.”

“One good thing did come out of this though.”

“Which is?”

Bruce smiles. “We now know Ko misses you.”

“Why do you say that?” Clark questions.

“Because he was saying bye-bye the whole time. He must have associated that with you and that was his way of telling me.”

“Okay but I haven’t even been gone long. He shouldn’t even know that I’m going to be gone for four days,” Clark says.

Bruce touches his nose and winces. “He’s a smart baby, Clark. He does have mine and your intelligence in him. That is if our doppelgangers were as smart as we are.”

“My doppelganger was an abusive jerk. I doubt he was very smart.”

Bruce chuckles then pauses. He says, “I miss you too.”

He hears Clark huff a small laugh. “I miss you as well. I’ll still call to say goodnight too.”

“Okay.” Bruce looks at his watch. “I’ll let you know if anything happens between now and then.”

“If something else happens, I’m coming straight home, you understand?”

“Got it. I’ll talk to you later Clark.”

“Talk to you later. I love you.”

Bruce smiles fondly at his husband telling him that he loves him. “I love you too. Bye.”

“Bye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

“And… there.” Bruce presses the button on the tablet to accept the video call. He moves the tablet in front of Ko who is currently splashing in the bathtub with Bruce seated right behind him, legs bent on either side of Ko. It’s the next night from when Ko had hit Bruce, breaking his nose, and Bruce had decided to take a bath with him. “Look who is on the screen.” Bruce points to the screen where Clark’s face currently is. “Say hi.”

Ko immediately becomes excited and splashes vigorously in the water. “Bye-bye, bye-bye.”

Clark laughs, his smile loving. “Hi Clark.”

“Bye-bye,” Ko says enthusiastically.

“Are you talking to Clark Jr.?” Bruce hears Lois’ voice. Clark and her are currently sharing a hotel room and so Clark can’t say Ko’s Kryptonian name until she is gone. Lois comes into view next to Clark. Luckily Ko’s body hides Bruce’s crotch. “Awe, he’s gotten so big!” She waves and Ko squeals. “Hello, Clark. Hello.”

Bruce allows Lois to fond over Ko for a few minutes, asking questions about him and talking directly to Ko in a baby voice. Then, once he deems Lois has had enough time gushing over his child, he says without showing himself, “Hey, Lois? I don’t want to sound rude but do you think you could give Clark and I some time to talk privately? There’s some important things we need to discuss.”

“Of course, Bruce. I’ll just… go to a bar or something.” She laughs. “Bye-bye Clark,” She says to Ko.

“Bye-bye,” he says back and Lois squeals again. Soon, she is gone and Bruce hears the door shut behind her.

“So, do you want to see it?”

Clark sighs. “Yeah.” Bruce brings the tablet up to his face, showing Clark his nose. “Oh gosh. That’s worse than I thought it was.”

“I told you he broke it.”

Clark wipes at his face. “I know and I know I’ve seen you with a broken nose before but Bruce, this was done by our one year old.”

“I know.”

“What are we going to do about it?”

Ko reaches up for the tablet, making a small whining sound. “Bye-bye.”

Bruce lifts the device up and out of Ko’s reach. The last thing he needs is for the thing to be dropped into the bathtub. “I don’t know. I guess we just have to keep discouraging it.”

Ko makes an annoyed and frustrated sound. “Bye-bye,” he says angrily.

Bruce ignores him as he listens to Clark. “We have to do something. I don’t like the thought of him hurting you or worse, one of the boys or someone else who isn’t family like some stranger. How would we explain him being so strong?” At this point, Ko thinks it’s a great idea to smack Bruce in the face hard enough to make his head swing and hit the side of the wall. He drops the tablet but luckily catches it before it hits the water. “Bruce!”

“Fuck!” He sets the tablet beside the tub and reaches up to his head. Ko is crying and trying to reach for the tablet that he can’t get to. Bruce brings his hands back to inspect them. His nose is bleeding again but no blood came from where he had hit his head. He washes his hand of the blood, grabs Ko and places him outside of the tub, and then gets out himself.

Ko immediately goes to the tablet and leans over it to see Clark, smiling. “Bye-bye.”

“Bruce?” Clark questions but Bruce ignores him, grabbing a wad of toilet paper and pressing it to his nose.

He then picks up the tablet and Ko floats up beside him so he can still see the screen. “That fucking hurt.”

Clark's eyes dart to Ko and then back to Bruce. “Did he do it hard again?”

“What do you think?” Bruce asks, clearly annoyed. “This is getting out of hand Clark. I don't mind being beat up on, I'm used it, but I am not letting him hurt anyone else.”

“I know.” Clark sighs. “Look, let me do some research on how to stop babies from hitting. I'll also call my mother in the morning and ask for her advice.” Bruce glares at the baby floating next to his head. “Are you going to put him to sleep?”

Bruce rolls his eyes with a sigh. “Yeah. He didn't get much of a bath.” He lowers the tissues and eyes himself in the mirror. The bleeding has stopped but it's going to take longer for his nose to heal now. “Fucking rammed my head against the wall.” Bruce walks into his room, Ko flying behind him in order to follow. He places the tablet down on his bed, gets into a pair of sweatpants, and then grabs Ko out of the air. Ko snuggles into him, resting his head on Bruce’s shoulder. “When did you get your super strength again?” Bruce calls, setting Ko down on the bed in order to get him into his pajamas.

“I was nine.”

“Nine year olds listen better and have better control of themselves than one year olds,” Bruce mumbles, dressing Ko. When Ko has his pajamas on, he picks him back up and then grabs the tablet. Ko snuggles into his chest again as he goes to the nursery. He places Ko into the crib. “Night, night time.”

Ko claps his hands and then reaches for the tablet. “Bye-bye?”

“Yes, yes, here’s Bye-bye.” Bruce allows Ko to see Clark on the screen and Ko smiles happily.

“Goodnight Ko. Papa loves you,” Clark says to him.

“Bye-bye, bye-bye!” Ko waves at the device, Bruce leans down and kisses his head, then leaves.

Alfred is waiting outside the door. He raises an eyebrow. “Again Sir?”

Bruce rolls his eyes. “Yes. Be careful with him, Alfred. If he tries to get out of his crib then call me immediately. _Do not_ pick him up.”

“Very well, Sir.” Alfred enters the nursery in order to make sure Ko goes to sleep.

Bruce heads back to his room and crawls into his bed. He’s decided to not go out as Batman tonight. Not after being hit by Ko. He lies down on his side and then holds the tablet out with a sigh. “Are you okay?” Clark asks.

With his free hand, Bruce runs it through his hair, closing his eyes. “My head hurts. I might have a concussion.”

“Should you have Alfred look at you?” Bruce shakes his head, opening his eyes to look at Clark. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come home?”

“I’m sure Clark. It’s only two more days.”

“Two more days of my husband being abused by our son.”

“As long as it’s me.”

“I want it to be no one,” Clark pouts.

“Well, yeah, of course. Do you think I like being hit?” Bruce shrugs. “But if it has to be anyone, then I want it to be me.”

“I just don’t get it. He’s never been like this before,” Clark says. “Yeah, he’s accidently hit someone with super strength, but after the first couple of times that he deliberately hit you, he hasn’t done it purposely since because I thought we had nipped it in the bud.”

“Apparently it didn’t’ stick.”

“I’m sorry Bruce.”

“For what?” Bruce asks, confused. “It’s not like you are encouraging it. Not after your mother scolded you that time.”

“I know but I still feel a bit responsible.” Clark pauses.

“What?”

“You don’t think… you don’t think it’s because of Lord Superman do you?”

“Meaning?”

“Well, Lord Superman was a jerk and when he took Ko… well, Ko saw a lot of violence.” Clark shrugs. “Do you think that’s why he’s doing this?”

“No.” Bruce shakes his head. His pounding headache intensifies with the movement. “He was doing this before that happened. Besides, if that is what was influencing him to act like this, then it would have been immediately after that incident. Not months.”

Clark sighs. “Yeah, I know. I guess I’m just grasping at straws trying to find answers.”

Bruce smiles at him. “We’ll figure it out Clark. Now,” he rubs a hand down his face, avoiding his nose. “I would really like to get some sleep.”

“Is it okay to do that with a possible concussion?”

“ _Clark_.”

“Sorry. Goodnight, Bruce. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

Bruce is lying outside on a lawn chair, under an umbrella, and sunglasses on his face with his head pounding a rhythmic beat. The sun is high above with no clouds in sight. Since it’s such a rare occurrence for such a thing to happen in Gotham, Bruce thought it would be nice to bring Ko out to play and absorb some of the radiation. His eyes are shut and he tries to breathe through the pain and nausea that his concussion has caused.

“I really do think you should go back inside, Master Bruce,” Alfred says, bringing over a glass of lemonade and a sippy cup for Ko.

“It’s fine Alfred. I’m used to concussions.” Bruce cracks an eye open and looks up at the sky. Ko is floating there and attached to his waist is a leash which is then wrapped around Bruce’s wrist. It keeps Ko from flying too high or off somewhere Bruce can’t get him. Plus, it helps when Bruce wants to get him down since all he has to do is drag the baby down by pulling on it. It’s like having a human balloon.

“Yes, well, you don’t normally go out into the sun when you have one.” Bruce groans and closes his eye again. “Would you like some Tylenol?”

Bruce shakes his head minutely. “I’ve already taken some.” He covers his eyes with an arm. “I just wanted Ko to get some sun. Then I’m going to go do some work down in the cave.”

“Very well, Sir,” Alfred says, sounding displeased. He hears the butler walk away, grass crunching under his feet.

Bruce lies there, feeling sleep starting to pull at him. Suddenly he feels the leash strain and then go limp. He hears a soft thump and painfully opens his eyes to see the end of the leash snapped off and lying on the ground. Bruce sits up immediately and looks up into the sky. There, Ko is floating higher and higher, looking around with confusion. When Ko sees he’s getting further away from Bruce, he starts to cry.

“C-Clark?” Bruce says, watching as his son floats away from him. His heart speeds up and panic rushes through his entire body. He jumps out of the lawn chair. “Clark! Clark get here quick!” Bruce looks around frantically for something to retrieve Ko with. He could use one of his gadgets, but they are all in the cave. By the time he got them, Ko would already be in the stratosphere. Ko waves his arms as he looks down at Bruce, unsuccessfully flying back. “Kal!”

A red and blue blur flies across the sky with a loud boom and then slows as it approaches Ko. Clark carefully grabs the crying baby, holding him close to his chest and making shushing sounds. He lands gracefully and Bruce reaches for Ko. Clark hands him over and Ko clings to Bruce tightly, crying into his chest. “What happened?” Clark asks.

Bruce is shaking. “The leash snapped. Clark, I thought we were going to lose him.”

“Hey,” Clark grabs him behind the neck and pulls Bruce into a hug. “It’s okay, I got him and I’m here now.”

Bruce buries his face in Clark’s shoulder as Ko slowly stops crying. “I don’t ever want you to leave for this long again.”

Clark chuckles and it soothes Bruce. “Does that mean no long Justice League trips?” He chuckles again then gets serious. “Do you want me to stay?”

“Not without me and no, you need to go back.”

Clark pulls away and frowns at him. “Bruce-”

“Clark, it’s just one more day.”

Clark cups one of Bruce’s cheeks, his eyes scanning his entire face and then resting on his nose. “One day too long.” Clark leans down and kisses Bruce’s forehead. “How did the leash snap?”

“I’m assuming with his super strength. Probably not on purpose. He started flying up, didn’t know how to stop, his super strength kicked in, snapped the leash.” Bruce looks up to the sky and feels the terror of losing his son. “His powers always have been sporadic, some more than others,” he says, thinking about Ko’s heat vision. “But ever since he turned seven months he’s had a pretty good grasp on flying.”

Clark looks at the sky as well. “Maybe it’s the increased intake of the sun. I always feel more… energized and powerful on sunny days and especially when I go to outer space and I no longer have an atmosphere to contend with.”

“Maybe.” Bruce looks at Clark. “Did you figure out how to stop the hitting?” he asks, his headache reminding him of yesterday and the day before.

“Online just said to discourage it and my mother didn’t have much to say on the fact. I wasn’t really a hitting baby and even if I did, I didn’t have super strength yet.”

Bruce sighs. “Yeah, and those people online promoting discouragement didn’t have to contend with a baby with super powers that he can sometimes and sometimes cannot control. Great.”

Clark cups the sides of his face and plants a very, very light kiss on the tip of his bruised nose. “I don’t want you to be a punching bag,” he pouts, kissing Bruce’s cheeks. He makes his way down to Bruce’s lips where they both kiss each other. “Missed you,” he whispers.

“I’ve missed you too,” Bruce whispers against Clark’s lips.

“Bye-bye!” Ko interrupts, reaching towards Clark.

Clark pulls away with a wide grin and picks the baby up from Bruce enthusiastically, twirling in the air. “And I’ve missed you too.” He peppers kisses all over Ko’s face, causing the baby to laugh loudly and clap his hands. Clark laughs and Bruce smiles at the scene playing out in front of him. Clark pulls Ko in closer and hugs him, addressing Bruce. “I can stay a few hours at least. Lois thinks I went on a walk to ‘sight see’.”

Bruce watches Clark and how happy his husband looks holding their son. He smiles fondly. “I love you.”

Clark’s eyebrows furrow. “I love you too but why are you saying that out of nowhere. That’s not like you.”

Bruce shrugs. “Because I do and I don’t ever want you to think that I don’t.”

“I’ll never think that Bruce.” He grabs Bruce’s hand and brings it up to his lips, kissing Bruce’s knuckles. “I’ll always know you love me.” He then grins wide, letting go of Bruce’s hand and tickling Ko’s neck. “Now, how about we go play and let Daddy rest up a bit. That concussion isn’t going to heal if he continues being stressed over you.”

Ko giggles and laughs, clapping his hands more. “Bye-bye, bye-bye.” Clark chuckles, walking inside. Bruce’s fond smile grows, the love for his husband and son burning hot in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

Bruce blinks open his eyes slowly, his head pounding worse than it did yesterday. He takes a breath in and then lifts his head, his body feeling sore. Looking around, he notices that it looks like he is in some kind of warehouse. His hands are also tied together behind him and are attached to a steel support beam. When Bruce hears a small, quiet whimper from beside him, he looks over and is horrified to see Ko sitting next to him, his little face already streaked with tears. “Ko?” The baby whimpers again. “Shh, shh, shh. It’s going to be okay.”

Looking around the room again, he tries to remember what happened. He recalls going for a walk, the darkest pair of sunglasses he owns snug on his face since he still had a headache from the concussion. Ko was in his stroller, the sun visor down in order to not overload him in UV rays and have him lose control of his powers again. Alfred had been against him going for the walk when he was still suffering from concussion symptoms but Bruce hadn’t listened. Ko hadn’t been on a walk for a little while and Bruce wanted to get him out again while Gotham decided to have a few days of nice weather, concussion be damned. That’s when something had hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out. That’s the last thing he remembers before waking up here.

A door opens to his left and he looks over. Four guys walk into the room, one with holding a gun, one with a knife, and the other two are holding one bat each. They look like nobodies and Bruce silently reprimands himself for being taken out by a group of low end thugs. “Boys, look who is awake,” one of the men says, whacking his bat against another support beam. It causes Ko to whimper again and his little hand grabs a hold of Bruce’s pant leg. Bruce narrows his eyes at the men who approach him. “Hello, hello, Brucie.”

“What do you want?” He asks them.

The one with the bat, who is the only one who has spoken so far, leans down so he’s eye level with Bruce. “We’re going to get some ransom out of you and your boy here.”

“Don’t you touch him,” Bruce growls. “You lay a signal finger on him and I’ll-”

“And you’ll what, Brucie?” He points to Bruce. “Last I checked, you’re tied up.”

Bruce gives the four a menacing smirk. Two of them look between each other warily. “You guys made a big mistake.”

“What? Think you’re going to be saved by Batman? We’re not scared of Batman.”

“That’s not who I’m talking about.” All four exchange glances. “My husband is Clark Kent, a journalist from The Daily Planet in Metropolis. Do you know who that makes him acquaintances with?” The men look at him in confusion. “Superman.” The eyes of the three men who are standing behind who Bruce assumes is the boss grow wide. “And when Clark finds out that me and his son are missing, he’ll call Superman and Superman will come here. Tell me boys, you might not be scared of Batman but are you scared of Superman?” They squirm. “A Superman who finds out that his friend’s husband and especially his _son_ had just gotten kidnapped. I don’t know boys, I think I’d rather deal with Batman.”

“Hey, Boss, you think rich boy here is telling the truth?” The man with the gun asks.

The boss eyes Bruce before turning to his men. Bruce starts working on his restraints. “Nah, he might be telling the truth about this Kent dude but no way his husband can call Superman in to help. It ain’t like Superman isn’t busy.” At this point Ko turns his whimpers into full on crying. Bruce wishes his hands were free so he could pick him up and comfort him. The boss turns and looks at the baby. “Would someone shut that fucking baby up?”

The one with the other bat approaches Ko and picks him up roughly by the arm. It makes Ko scream his cries even louder. “Let go of him!” Bruce yells and works on his restraints even faster. He’s almost out. Just a little more to go.

“Hey, I told you shut that thing up,” the boss yells.

The one with the bat turns to him, still holding Ko by the arm. “I don’t know how to turn it off, Boss.” He shakes Ko a little. “Shut up you little shit.”

“Stop it,” Bruce begs. He’s so close to getting out. So close.

The boss groans. “Give it to me.” Just as the boss grabs Ko by his other arm, Ko’s eyes shoot open, glowing red.

Bruce has just enough time to yell out. “Ko, no!” Heat vision shoots out of Ko’s eyes as the baby wrenches his arm free with super strength of the grasp it is in. The heat vision hits the boss first, instantly catching his clothes on fire. The man screams as Ko turns his head and hits the guy that had a hold of him earlier. The heat vision that hits him instantly sears his skin off, the man’s scream full of agonized pain. “Stop! Ko!”

“Shoot him! Shoot him!” The one with the knife shrieks and the one with the gun starts firing on Ko.

“No!” Bruce cries, pulling at his restraints.

The bullets bounce off of Ko but the gunner isn’t so lucky when Ko’s heat vision hits him. His fate is the same as the boss and when Ko turns his heat vision on the man with the knife, his skin boils away. All the while, Ko is crying and floating in the air, his wails sounding angry. His head starts to turn to Bruce and Bruce holds his breath, waiting for the pain of his flesh burning. But it never comes. Ko’s heat vision stops just before his gaze fully turns to Bruce and the baby very, very slowly lowers to the ground. He stands there, the shouts of the men around them dying out as they lie there on the floor, burned and lifeless. Ko sticks a hand in his mouth as his crying turns from angry to scared.

Bruce watches his son cry in the middle of the dead bodies, blood pooling around them. The smell of burned flesh mixed with blood makes him nauseated. He tugs at his restraints as hard as he can and they finally break. Bruce makes no move towards his son. “Ko?”

Ko’s eyes focus on him and the baby reaches out. “Dada.”

The word that Bruce has never heard come out of Ko’s mouth springs him into action. He runs towards his son, scooping him up. “Don’t worry, Ko. Daddy’s here. You’re safe.” He holds Ko close, his head buried in Bruce’s shoulder as he cries. Bruce looks around him and at the bodies, feeling his own tears starting to sting his eyes. “Clark?” he says lowly at first and gradually gets louder and louder until he’s calling for his husband desperately. “Clark!”

A few seconds later he hears gentle feet land in front of him and a hand is placed delicately on his other shoulder. “Bruce, what happened here?”

Bruce is shaking and by now the tears are rolling down his cheeks. “Just get us out of here, please.” Clark nods, gathering the two of them close and lifting off. He heads towards the Manor and lands on Bruce’s balcony that leads to his room.

He runs a hand through Bruce’s hair. “Hey, are you okay?” Bruce nods, face buried in Clark’s shoulder. He doesn’t want Clark to let go of him. “Bruce, what happened?”

He doesn’t say anything for the longest time and just focuses on Ko in his arms and Clark’s hand in his hair. Then he pulls away and looks up at his husband who is looking at him in concern. “I went for a walk and… I must have been distracted because someone was able to sneak up behind me and knock me out. I woke up in that warehouse and Ko was beside me. They wanted us for ransom. Ko started crying and they wanted him to stop so they grabbed him. That’s when Ko…” Bruce swallows and holds onto his son tighter. “That’s when Ko activated his heat vision. They were nobodies, Clark… and Ko killed them.”

Clark takes a moment to process this information. He takes a deep breath. “I’m sure it was an accident.”

“No,” Bruce says, shaking his head. “He did it on purpose. He stopped his heat vision just before it hit me.”

“Okay, but isn’t this sort of a good thing?” Clark suggests. “It means Ko is starting to finally get control of his powers.”

“Not when he kills people with them, Clark!” Bruce exclaims. “He used his heat vision on them. Just like what Lord Superman did to the Justice Lords.”

“Bruce,” Clark starts, voice trying to calm him. “He’s one. He has no concept of life and death.”

Bruce pushes away from him. “And you seem to keep forgetting that he’s a smart baby. You remember how he reacted when Lord Batman and Lord Superman died?” Clark nods his head. “Knowing that, can you really tell me he doesn’t know what death is?”

Clark’s eyes dart to Ko who has fallen asleep in Bruce’s arms, head rested on Bruce’s shoulder. “I think you’re missing the bigger picture here, Bruce. Even if Ko does understand life and death, that doesn’t mean he knows right from wrong. In his perspective, he was just protecting you and himself.” Clark walks up to him and cups one of Bruce’s cheeks. “Bruce, he’s not going to grow up to become Lord Superman.”

“You worried about it too, just the other day,” Bruce says, annoyance lacing his words.

“I know and you made me think differently. That’s all I’m doing now for you.” He leans forward and kisses Bruce’s forehead. “Ko isn’t going to become the bad guy. Not with us raising him. Nature versus nurture.”

“And which one wins with Ko? Nature or nurture?”

“Nurture.” Clark cups his face again. “He’s one, Bruce. Give him a little leeway, a little benefit of the doubt. He’s a baby and he wanted to protect you. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Bruce leans into Clark’s touch. “I hope you’re right Clark.”

“I am.” He kisses Bruce’s lips. “Let’s get you two cleaned up and then in bed. You’ve had a long day.”

“Don’t you have to go back?” Bruce asks as he is lead into the bathroom. “You’re not supposed to board your flight for another few hours.”

Clark shakes his head. “I’m not going back.”

“Clark-”

Clark puts a hand up to Bruce’s mouth and covers it. “Nope, I’m not going to let you convince me to leave. I am going to stay here and spend time with my husband and son whom I have dearly missed. I’ll just tell Lois that I took an earlier flight.”

Bruce hums and leans into him, burying his face into the crook where shoulder meets neck. “What did I do to deserve you?”

Clark chuckles. “You were yourself.”

Bruce smiles fondly and lifts his head. “You were right though.” Clark cocks his head in question. “It is good that Ko is getting control of his powers. Maybe I won’t get hit with super strength by him so much now.”

Clark chuckles again. “Especially now that I’m here and he won’t be getting angry or sad over missing me, right?”

“I got angry and sad while missing you, too,” Bruce pouts.

“Did you now?”

“Uh huh.”

“Well then…” Clark leans forward, brushing their lips together. “I’m going to have to fix that, aren’t I?”

Their lips meets just as Ko stirs and the baby says excitedly, “Bye-bye!”

The two pull away, laughing. “Yes, yes,” Clark starts, picking Ko up and blowing on his stomach. “I’ll fix it with you too, silly-goose.”

Despite the fear of the future that is aching in his chest, Bruce smiles warmly. He really loves his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End!
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


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